Bloody Constraint

War and Chivalry in Shakespeare

Theodor Meron

Chivalry, one of Shakespeare's central themes, retains its pertinence and topicality in our rules for international humanitarian law and the conduct of war. Against a background of Medieval and Renaissance sources as well as Shakespeare's historical and dramatic realms, Professor Meron considers the ways in which law, chivalry, morality, conscience, and state necessity are deployed in Shakespeare to promote a society in which soldiers behave humanely and leaders are held to high standards of civilized behavior. In doing so, he illustrates the literary genealogy of such contemporary international humanitarian concerns as the treatment of prisoners and of women and accountability for war crimes.

Bloody Constraint

War and Chivalry in Shakespeare

Theodor Meron

Description

War is a major theme in Shakespeare's plays. Aside from its dramatic appeal, it provided him with a context in which his characters, steeped in the ideals of chivalry, could discuss such concepts as honor, courage, patriotism, and justice. Well aware of the decline of chivalry in his own era, Shakespeare gave his characters lines calling for civilized behavior, mercy, humanitarian principles, and moral responsibility. In this remarkable new book, eminent legal scholar Theodor Meron looks at contemporary international humanitarian law and rules for the conduct of war through the lens of Shakespeare's plays and discerns chivalry's influence there.

The book comes as a response to the question of whether the world has lost anything by having a system of law
based on the Hague and Geneva conventions. Meron contends that, despite the foolishness and vanity of its most extreme manifestations, chivalry served as a customary law that restrained and humanized the conflicts of the generally chaotic and brutal Middle Ages. It had the advantage of resting on the sense that rules arise naturally out of societies, their armed forces, and their rulers on the basis of experience. Against a background of Medieval and Renaissance sources as well as Shakespeare's historical and dramatic settings, Meron considers the ways in which law, morality, conscience, and state necessity are deployed in Shakespeare's plays to promote a society in which soldiers behave humanely and leaders are held to high standards of civilized behavior. Thus he illustrates the
literary genealogy of such modern international humanitarian concerns as the treatment of prisoners and of noncombatants and accountability for war crimes, showing that the chivalric legacy has not been lost entirely.

Fresh and insightful, Bloody Constraint will interest scholars of international law, lovers of Shakespeare, and anyone interested in the history of war.

Bloody Constraint

War and Chivalry in Shakespeare

Theodor Meron

Author Information

Theodor Meron is a prominent scholar of international law. He is also the author of Henry's Wars and Shakespeare's Laws (OUP, 1994), among many other books.

Bloody Constraint

War and Chivalry in Shakespeare

Theodor Meron

Reviews and Awards

"Meron's language is clear and accessible, and he provides background information that places his ideas in context...A useful supplement to larger public and academic libraries with Shakespeare and military history collections."--Library Journal

"A scholar of international law with interests in human rights, history, and Shakespeare, Meron has written one of the best, a book that will interest readers in these areas and beyond....Highly recommended for readers at all levels in numerous disciplines beyond literature."--Choice

"This is an attractively written and very readable book....No better guide could be found than Meron's book."--The American Journal of International Law

"Meron's language is clear and accessible, and he provides background information that places his ideas in context."--Library Journal

"A remarkable book....Demonstrates not only a mastery of Shakespeare's canon, but also a thorough knowledge of the Bard's sources and contemporaries. The book is exhaustively documented, argued with balance, and absorbing to read. If one reads Bloody Constraint with the spirit of Meron's thesis, namely seeking inspiration rather than technical direction, it is nearly faultless."--International law and Politics